in a secular power is whoever is sitting in the oval office. everybody wants action, but nobody wants addiction. in executive power, we can make sure washington remains balanced among the three branches of government. i asked the 2020 candidates how will you put a halt to the runaway train of executive order? >> you can watch each winning studentcam documentary online at studentcam.org. coming up on "washington journal," the national constitution center's jeffrey rosen on constitutional rights during a pandemic. then we hear from ilyse schuman, health policy at senior vice president at the american benefits council on how the coronavirus pandemic impacts employer-sponsored health care coverage. after that, stephen morrison with the center for strategic

and international studies on the role of the world health organization and the president's decision to cut its funding. "washington journal" is next. ♪ good morning on this monday, april 20. we will begin with hearing about what it is like to be an essential worker in this country. if you are an essential worker, we want to hear your story. your number is (202) 748-8000. if you are a friend or family number of an essential worker, we want to hear what it is like from you as well and your loved ones' stories. (202) 748-8001 is your line. you can also text as, first name, city, and state, to (202) 748-8003. or sent as a tweet at @cspanwj.

post your comment on facebook.com/cspan. we will get to the essential workers and family and friends as well, but let's begin with andrew cuomo, democratic governor of new york. here is what he has to say sunday at about essential workers. [video clip] >> think of all the people, all the essential workers, who had to go out there every day and work in the middle of this. who, frankly, would have much rather stay home? they did not know what the virus was, and they are out there working with the public, exposing themselves. why do we have a higher rate of infection among african-americans, latinos, etc.? well, who are the essential workers? we have a higher rate of infection among the essential workers. because they were out there driving the buses and the trains. and they were out there running

the hospitals and the emerging see -- emergency rooms. they did not to stay home. ,nd they got sicker and died more than anyone else. they were there honoring their responsibility to their job and to public service. let's remember that and let's remember them. host: that was andrew cuomo yesterday talking about essential workers. the "new york times" ran this story -- 1 in 3 jobs held by women in america have been designated essential. nonwhite women are more likely to be doing essential jobs than anyone else. we are talking with essential workers this morning as well as family and friends of those essential workers. laura kelly on facebook sent us this message she is a nurse. see lots of covid patients. have not run out of ppe yet, but

the hospital system just started giving n95's two weeks ago. jodie on facebook -- my husband works on a grocery store warehouse. dying wearing a mask because it is difficult to breathe lifting 50 pounds plus crates all night. frank on facebook -- i am a truck driver. i deliver bulk mail. i am not exposed to a lot of risk, thankfully. lee in toledo, ohio, and essential worker. what do you do? self-employed policy writer for a health company. host: good morning. so you are working from home to do your work? caller: i have to go into the facility and work. , i cannot work from home because of some policies i have to draft with the state of ohio for this organization to be recertified. host: what is it like when you go in?

caller: a little nervous. more nervous for me than -- more nervous for my wife than me, because she is a nurse. is an assistant at home for dementia. we have to make sure we do not contaminate anybody in the house. i have an ailing father right now who needs a heart catheter, so we have to be very careful who comes in and are they washing their hands and everything. so it is very nervous having to come back and taking care of my father. before i go on any further, i have to say last time i talked to you in 2015, i was teaching college, and we had a debate over candidate trump at the

time. i've been waiting to tell you that, that part and everything else that happened. but i have to say that it is a little nervous. going in that facility. it is a little nervous these days. we go to daniel, also an essential worker. what do you do? work at a grocery store. we have a very limited supply of things -- we just got a shipment of masks and gloves we have to wear. this stuff only lasts until they do not. masks forough everyone excluding 20 employees, so it is hard figure out who gets what. host: we go to hugh in michigan.

you know somebody who is an essential worker. what do they do? i go to the save a lot down the street here. they do not have any gloves or masks. what is the idea with trump? this is all something that is supposed to be out there, and i do not understand why it is not out there. host: you're saying you do not see the essential workers wearing masks or gloves. james in new jersey. what do you do? --ler: right now hello?

host: we are listening. taught as a home health aide, every time you see a different patient, change masks for contamination purposes. it is not about wearing the same patients.ifferent a fact -- what are your facts? host: and who bears response ability for that? caller: fema. host: why? i am not -- [indiscernible] host: all right.

mark in philadelphia. caller: my sister in law is a nurse. big philly hospital. she calls me every other day, whatever. i am telling you she is basically almost in tears. scared just to go into work every day. host: what does she say? caller: she just says i am scared to go into work. i am afraid of getting this virus. she is retiring the end of this year. and i, inike, hey, fact, going to make it through retirement? quicklyg i want to say, , is looking at governor cuomo -- that clip about the essential workers and who they are.

i self identify as a democrat. why isn't joe biden saying these things? hisbiden is hiding out in basement in delaware, having his incoherent fireside chats, whatever you want to talk about it, and here we have the guy who makes perfect sense, andrew cuomo, not even our candidate. we handed it to trump because hillary was incompetent, and it looks like we will do it again with biden. i just have to say that. host: doesn't it go to our question, though? isn't governor cuomo and essential worker? right now, the former vice president, running for office, campaigning, is not essential. caller: i understand that, but tos that mean biden has be missing in action? i have not seen biden get his grandkids down in the basement

enter him how to do a youtube video, like every 10-year-old knows how to do. it does not seem to be in the technical arena of biden, is what i am saying. host: can i go back to your sister and what precautions they are taking. caller:. . sister-in-law host: sorry. hazmat well, not the suit and stuff, but it is a tricky virus. things get through. host: leo, what do you do? caller: i work at a manufacturing factory that work on coils that go into respirators. host: what is demand like? caller: off-the-shelf. we cannot make it fast enough, from what i understand. working atplanet is full capacity to make that

particular wire, but the economy is such that everybody else is standing around and we are keeping full employment because of this particular wire and the strikeforce wire we make. host: are you working extra hours? caller: i worked a second shift. i work days. but because of my age, i believe they had to accommodate some of our older employees so we would not be exposed as much. plus the fact that you put on an additional janitorial staff to make sure the bathrooms are clean before seven and everything the employees -- 24/7 and making sure everything the employees are wearing is sanitized. host: what are you wearing to work? caller: the same old stuff. this morning, we will have masks and everything else, because of demand, was a hard time obtaining them, and i am not sure how many we will have. our situation is we are not within six feet to eight feet. it is the willing itself you have to worry about. host: why do you say that?

caller: because everything you touch and everything you do, you are spreading the virus and you are leaving parts of you everywhere you go. this is the issue we have. we are multinational. we are gung ho -- as far as our company is concerned, we will be there for the manufacturers of the next process forever. host: is your company hiring? caller: they were right after the last moment, but because of the slowdown in the rest of the economy, things have changed. host: do they take your temperature? do they do any sort of precaution before you come to work? caller: that procedure is starting today because of the fact that they couldn't acquire thermometers. they could not acquire any of the materials because everything was on back order. i think every industry in the united states, at the last minute, jumped to protect their employees. unfortunately, the federal government dropped the ball.

they should have had the stuff on the shelves month ago -- months ago. host: what about testing? any talk of testing at your company? caller: i was sent home three weeks ago because i was not feeling good. they were concerned anyone over 60 feeling not good should go home. i called the office and said unless you hit all the boxes, unless you have the fever, dry cough, your lungs are filling up -- unless you are dying of the disease, they will not test you or unless you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive, which is ironic because they have not tested anyone in the state, or at least only a few people. host: leo in new hampshire. is callingia, carl from there. family of an essential worker. caller: my daughter is in maryland. she takes care of the elderly.

she has a letter where she can go out. the thing that concerns me -- our representatives in congress not essential? i think the president is working 60 hours a day. and pelosi up there is holed up in her multimillion dollar mansion, and all she wants is to criticize what he does. if congress can vote to send our young people to war, in harm's way, are they afraid to come in harm's way themselves? aren't our representatives down in washington, d.c. working on problems we have? host: understood. the business section of the "wall street journal" about this headline. walmart coronavirus challenge is just to stay open.

the pandemic has put 10% of the workforce on leave and commented retailers to require all staff to wear masks. from the article, they note people are turning to the retailer more than ever for necessities or jobs. sales at walmarts 4700 u.s. surged nearly-- 20% in march. more than one million people apply to work at the company in the last month. it hired 150,000 of them and plans to hire another 50,000. walmart started ramping up hiring in mid-march as demand for food and cleaning supplies surged. it'll person team was built to onboard new workers within 24 hours instead of the usual two weeks, according to the senior vice president. the goal to hire 5000 people a day, because it is a demand, essential workers at walmart. chris in louisiana. good morning. share your story with us.

caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: c-span.org doing well. -- doing well. how are you? caller: doing fine. i want to chime in about walmart. i will speak to louisiana. there are workers in walmart and theyot wear masks do not have gloves. i even asked them well shopping -- i asked have you had meetings with your managers or the company, and have they talked to you about offering a recommendation to wear masks? and if you also choose not to do it, it is by your own choice? at the time i brought that up to them, about a week and a half ago, they mentioned to me, no. nobody is telling you to protect yourself? and some of these people are young. i go to other companies -- lowe's.

kids,ed with college aged just getting out of college, still young, and they are working there. i talked to them -- i said do you know what i am wearing this in these masks that i own and these gloves i have on? they do not really understand, because they are young. i said you understand the severity of coronavirus and what it is capable of if a person contracts it and how it attacks the human body? i had a conversation with them, too. nobody is telling the kids that. so all those essential places -- i will go with restaurants, too. if you all not seen this, somebody -- something is wrong and maybe somebody needs to get their eyes checked. if we go to restaurants and we are buying food from drive-through's, i am not knocking the restaurants. they are doing the best they can and are helping to feed us. but can somebody tell them to

wear a mask inside there while preparing our food? because the workers are talking to one another. you do not think spit is coming out of their mouths? i asked the workers at one of our local restaurants, at the window, i said are you required to wear masks? they said only when we talk to the customers at the drive-through window. but when we are inside here, they said, it is a recommendation. i said then we could be catching coronavirus from them spitting on our food and stuff. i will close with this -- our essential workers deserve the same treatment we give the military. because our military men and women, when we see them in the streets and stores, we say thank you for serving, and we really mean that. we should do the same for our essential workers. right now, they are in a war. this is no ordinary couple of people sick and everybody rushed

to the hospital with a few ambulances. the whole nation is under attack. host: that is a sentiment echoed by members of congress. democrat of massachusetts katherine clark tweeting at women have always been essential workers, but right now, they are getting us through the covid crisis, putting their own safety on the line to care for others. you also have senator maria cantwell tweeting out that she has been working on legislation, sending a letter -- let me pull that up. signing a letter, along with other members of congress, what they want to do on covid-19 to protect local newspapers, tv, and radio who have been hit hard by the coronavirus. and a well-informed public is essential. representative haley stevens am a democrat of michigan, tweeting

if you know a health care worker or grocery store worker, take a moment to check on them. make sure they are doing ok and let them know how much their work is appreciated. representative mark pocan of minnesota saying the ups is essential, its workers essential, it services are essential. there, during, and after pandemic, we must do everything in our power to protect the usps , tweeting out a link about bailing out the usps. also a republican of louisiana sending out this video. [video clip] senatoris united states bill cassidy saying thanks to all who serve and protect. garbage, maintenance, law enforcement, first responders, medical, research, food, pharmacy, grocery, others, thank you. consider showing gratitude by serving another. contribute.

church and salvation army shelters are my favorite. we will get to this with an attitude of gratitude. cassidy, also a medical doctor, tweeting out that video, his appreciation for essential workers. if you have a family or friend who is an essential worker, we want to know what it is like you to know them and tell their stories, if they are unable to do so, as many of them are getting up and going to work this morning. front pages of the newspapers this morning with an update happening here in washington. a deal on added stimulus nears between white house and congress. this bill would boost loans for small firms and includes another $100 billion or hospitals and more testing. "washington post" front page. "washington times" -- deal for hospitals and small business close. secretary mnuchin says must wait

for next bill for local cities asking for a bailout from washington. "wall street journal" deal is near for help for small businesses. here is secretary mnuchin on "state of the union" on cnn yesterday talking about a possible deal that could be announced today. [video clip] >> two weeks ago, you promised businesses if you cannot get the loan today or tomorrow, they will be money. some analysts that ultimately -- say that all business protection may ultimately need $100 billion. >> i do not think that is the case. we are incredibly pleased with the participation rate. because of that, we want congress to approve more funds right away. we have also reached an agreement on sba disaster loans, so it will be another $50

billion appropriated, which can do over $300 billion of disaster loans. these programs are an unprecedented response to small businesses, which i think you know is about 50% of the american workforce. >> what about people getting funding they desperately need? >> i am hoping we can reach an agreement that the senate can pass this tomorrow and that the house can take it up tuesday. wednesday, we would be back up and running. >> you think a deal may be done .oday >> -- host: secretary mnuchin talking about a possible deal for small businesses, hospitals, and more testing as well.

figure of the house nancy pelosi who has been negotiating with a checkered -- secretary of the treasury was on abc. [video clip] >> how close are you to getting that package done? i know you have been talking to secretary mnuchin. >> we have common ground. the cares i packers were something we work together on a bipartisan way, making it more effective and stronger so that more people are benefiting from it and protected by it. we are close to an agreement. >> assuming you close this negotiation down, how will congress get this done? washington, d.c. is still under a stay-at-home order. are you prepared to go forward with the proxy voting proposal put forward? >> yes.

he and another were tasked to see what we could do remotely, whether it was by dint of the constitution, the security and technology. they came back with this recommendation on proxy voting. we want to make sure that we want to do it in a bipartisan way. nonetheless, to your point of reaching an agreement, we did reach agreement on cares i. we have an example of how we went forward in a bipartisan way , even though there was a person on the other side of the aisle avoiding unanimous consent. we have a template. we can do it again. in order to have proxy voting, yet the vote to have a change in the house rules to do that, and we would like to do that in a bipartisan way. host: it is possible they could announce a deal today on that $450 billion, and as you heard

the treasury secretary say, the senate could come in today, vote on that, the house would be called back tuesday or wednesday to vote on that. the house of representatives have already been notified by -- minority leader, steny hoyer of maryland, that they could be called back on that. we are asking essential workers to describe your environment. one viewer text us. she wrote that i work for our financial institution. with the markets being crazy, our clients need to get in touch with us every day. we are taking turns working in our branch and from home. we also have a cleaning service come in. a medical doctor and -- he has served as --

they are writing how to keep workers of the on-the-job. the virus can spread from person-to-person. they say, instead of mass transit, businesses can deploy corporate bands or other forms of transport. panisse can also encourage telework and zoom calls for employees. employers should also reduce density which should be easier for workers on shop floors. they can alternate who shows up in person and who works from home. that the speed lunch delivery in prepackaged containers. added --uld be then there is cleaning. surfaces reassurance are disinfected regularly.

travel should be discouraged essential.lutely frequent munication with workforce is essential, especially when there are changes in protocol. they also say office buildings, factories, and retail have to adhere to containment rules from the government. finally, it is essential to have rapid diagnostic testing if an employee becomes ill. you can read the recommendations by the former fda and the deputy fda commissioner on the wall street journal. michael from pennsylvania. you have a family or friend who is an essential worker? caller: yes. host: tell us what it is like for them. who are they? on.right, we will move bob, louisville, kentucky.

good morning. family or friend? caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. my daughter-in-law is a nurse. what she tells me is she worries people not having jobs than the virus, because she says the virus will come, the virus will go, but depression lasts years. if you go back in history, 1929, ii to get themar out of the depression. that is why she worries more about that than the virus. host: tony in michigan. caller: how are you doing? host: morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. do you have a family or friend who is an essential worker? niece, yes, my aunt, my and my sister in law.

my sister in a nursing home. they are wearing ppe's, but we are in a shortage of what someone tested positive -- he is still showing symptoms. she has not returned back to work as of yet. my aunt is a manager at kroger's. she is dealing with customers the best they could. they do not have all the ppe in place, and she ended up testing positive, and her family members gathered, and they are all in lockdown. and my niece, she is a front-line worker, a medical assistant, and they assigned her to different facilities to help up -- help out with the corona spread, and she ended up getting the virus as well. with her, they still tried to make her work.

and they said if your fever is not to a certain point, you can still come in to work. if you do not come into work, and you try to file for benefits, you will lose all your health benefits. making it really hard for her -- she is a single mom. they made it really hard for her to try to raise her kid at the same host: she had tested positive and they require her to come into her? caller: yes. host: how did they protect the other employees from getting the virus from her? and as far asried ppe and everything. assuming theym are short on staff. i think that is what it was. they were trying to utilize what they had. they were short on workers.

how has it been for all of the family members who tested positive? aunt was in the hospital for five days in hooked up to a ventilator for three of the five days. once she came off of the ventilator, i am not sure what medication they gave her, but i know they gave her antibiotics because her lungs were full of fluid. her husband was in the same condition as well. her son also had it, but he never went to the hospital but stayed at home and dealt with it. host: that is tony in clinton township, michigan. lots of stories like this one in the paper on the front page of the "wall street journal." virus testing hampered by disarray shortages. times, about testing,

let me note this -- the food and drug administration has allowed 90 companies, many based in china, to get testing that is not been vetted. the agency warned some businesses making false lines about their products. health officials like their counterparts overseas have found others deeply flawed. stories this morning about testing and the testing kits that are coming online. bonnie and michigan. what do you do? caller: i worked at a truck stop. host: so your open westmark caller: -- so you are open? caller: yes, we are open. glass barriers.

we have to make sure that they get their fuel. we get $10.25 an hour. think about that to put my life on the line. , but itered us a bonus is retro because it was only a half of a month. if we get coronavirus, they will pay us for two weeks. my husband is laid off and we can't get through to the unemployment office for my husband. host: so when you go to work, what precautions do you take? caller: i wear a mask and rubber gloves. but the truck drivers don't. nobody else does. i take money all day long. think about how dirty currency is. the best i could do is change a pair of loves. how many gloves can you possibly

change that are handing back to someone and they are going from state to state to state. they are not local. local companies are mainly shut down here these are people moving groceries, food, everything right now. it is just horrible. for $10.25 an hour. host: are you working extra hours? are they hiring? caller: they make us work a longer day but less hours because there are no trucks on the road. -- it'sryone says that absurd that the trucks that come down, the company isn't even making enough money to make our paychecks but we still have to be there. truckshere are less because less supplies moving

around. caller: exactly. truck and drives a delivers ford motor company parts. he got shut down back on the 19th we have been trying for unemployment so much and we are struggling. we have $1030 house payment and cangovernment says that you get unemployment, but when it crashes and you don't get unemployment and on top of it, he is 1099. we had to wait for the system to get up and running. once the system got up and running and we filed the paperwork, it crashed again. think about that for a second. i am raising my grandson. an houriving on $10.25 on 30 hours. host: do you have health care? caller: absolutely not.

how are you get sick, you going to pay for it? do you have your own insurance? caller: i have a heart problem and kidney problems and i have no health insurance. they will give me two weeks of pay. host: how would you pay the medical bills? caller: that is a good question. you could consider me an essential worker because i have this piece of paper but i'm not so essential now, am i? host: bonnie in michigan. have you reached out to your local representative about your husband situation and getting him the unemployment? caller: good luck getting through anywhere. that is why i am crying out to you. we need help. we need help badly, because i live in a little tiny town and we are nobody. you get the stimulus

check? isler: no, ma'am, because he 1099. we had to go through and apply for the irs thing. there is a reason why i am a cashier at a truck stop. i'm not the smartest person or try to fill out these things online by yourself, that is a joke in itself. outs not like you can go and get someone to do your taxes for you. little rundown $28,000 house. we decided as a husband and wife at 50 years old that we were going to buy a house for a two-year land contract. that guy still wants his honey. -- money. $10.25i pay him on $1

an hour? they bring food to my grandson every day. they make sure my grandson has food. it is the most wonderful place. i can honestly say they make sure my grandson gets food every day, delivered to the door. that is the one thing that michigan has done great, is to make sure these kids in this .own they have looked after my grandson so well and i think the elementary schools for what they have done for my grandson. but everywhere else, we are nobody. ie nurses are there and

appreciate them, but we get $10.25 an hour to sit behind a counter. we do everything. there are six of us that do everything, clean the showers ,fter the guys take the showers toilets, you name it. we do it. thank you for calling and sharing your story. caller: you have a blessed day. host: hector in bridgeport, connecticut. good morning. caller: good morning. host: what do you do for a living? caller: i am a personal-care assistant. home you have to leave the and go into other people's homes? live-in. am a so i live in a 12 by 12 room and every time i leave at 8:00 in the morning, i am already in the room of my client.

i take care of her and give her a bath period have been in quarantine since march 16. today is the 20th. i have not seen my wife or kids in over a month. i am just here taking care. i can't go anywhere because i don't know if i have it or not. host: how do you feed yourself and your client? are you having groceries delivered? caller: i haven't going myself. do mypaid on friday and i gloves and masks and i do groceries for myself and my client and i bring my stuff to my room and my client puts it into the kitchen and i am stuck in here. potty my own little porta not to go into their bathroom. since i am younger and they are disabled. i get paid for one disabled person, but the other is my brother so i don't get paid for that. host: hector in connecticut.

myhelle on facebook saying employer laid off half its workers, but i wasn't lucky to get laid off. in iowa, all employees have to have their temperature taken before entering into the building. lincoln sends this on facebook, i am a handy person in a residential building period have been working regular hours and i am alive and grateful. here is another viewer with a tweet, i never hear any thanks owing out to the i.t. workers out there. i'm out there every day going into infected areas and fixing health care workers' computers and giving everyone the ability to work at home. workerso thank the i.t. here who have done a lot to get our company and a large majority of them and have been able to work at home. so that person is right.

we think the i.t. people as well. to him in california. good morning to you. caller: hello. faa and it is like a triple whammy. my daughter is a registered icu nurse and my brother is a truck driver. so i could have called all three lines. host: what is it like for them? asthma,my brother has but he has to get out there but he has to get out there and do what he has to do. it is one of the unrecognized heroes that is out there as well as like my registered nurse daughter. she gets out there and does what she has to do and i worry about her every day, but it is what it is. i have been working every day

throughout this pandemic. do to keepdo you all yourselves safe. what is your protocol? with the faa, we have cleaning and social distancing and we have to follow the cdc's protocols. we have done an effective job at that. we have had people test positive for covid-19. ,hat is when it really hits you you don't really feel how much it impacts you until you know have been exposed. it is really a tough place to be in. at the same time, you have to do what you have to do based on

what your circumstances are. actually, even though i am essential and i get a paycheck and i am exposed to this, there are people out there like bonnie from michigan that really moved me. i am glad you let her talk, because people need to hear that. it is not just about you individually. it is about us as a nation and as a country. tim in california, essential worker and knows essential workers as well. we will continue with all of you on our conversation about what it's like to be an essential worker. i want to update you on reopening the government and what is needed. the headline and "the washington post," trump contradicted on testing. here is virginia governor ralph northam asking whether or not

his state has enough tests. >> the president and vice president has been saying that the u.s. has enough testing capacity states to open back up if you feel you are ready to go into phase one. is that the case in virginia? do you have enough tests to do the testing you need to do? >> that is just delusional to be making statements that peered we have been fighting every day for ppe and have had some supplies coming in. supplieseen having testing coming in peered we don't even have enough swabs. we are ramping that up, but for the national level to say what we need and to have no guidance to the state levels is just irresponsible, because we are not there yet. in "the walldline " echoed that.

you have this in the wall street journal. they are out with a new full. americans fear reopening to early. quickly0% don't favor lifting the stay-at-home orders. florida here who do you know who is an essential worker? caller: my son works at a grocery store in florida. i want to give everybody down there a big shout out. every politician in washington should have to work in a grocery store in these times to understand. i would ask everyone if there are more than two people in your family, just send one person. not everyone needs to be running around in the store. i would love to say that i absolutely love c-span, but

please, everyone, stay-at-home if you can, because you are putting everyone that is an essential worker, and to me, they are all heroes. every truck driver, everyone who works in a grocery store, everyone who gets up and goes out to work every day. they are the biggest heroes to me. the people in washington should be there, because i believe they are essential workers also. thank you. thereare you still russian mark -- there? caller: yes ma'am. host: what hours does your son work? day.r: he works during the they are doing all of the cleaning and masks. i have a daughter in law who works in a nursing home. i have the double whammy going. i have a nice who is a nurse in

a surgical center. if everyone could please just keep these people in mind, because they are really our heroes today. host: laura in illinois. who do you know who is an essential worker? caller: i have a nice who works in a big department chain like sam's, cosco, me ijer. she is scared. some of the security people were too close to her and she yelled out, hey, social distancing. she realized how close they were and she was scared. she works part of the time. she works with the customers and the other times she is stocking. her hours are from 4:00 until 12:00, and they work her so much

. when this thing first blue, she was working so hard. they usually put up about 25 to 30 pallets per night. they were doing 80 to 90 pallets a night. after the second day, she said she cried with tears of joy, they were donew and there wasn't anything else to put up. handhad to hold back sanitizer and toilet paper for , because employees people were stealing it out of the bathrooms. just the other day i felt so bad, because she went in and they give you a mask to her each day and then they take your temperature. she takes it at home. i think something was wrong with

her thermometer because it tested 101. she just started crying and said i want to see a doctor. he did do a covid test on her, and she was negative, thank goodness. that doesn't mean that she still can't get it or whatever, but she did have an upper respiratory infection and so she is off for seven days. she is so tired, she just needed that rest so bad. in a way, that was a blessing. i am scared for everyone out there. they do the best they can, but i couldn't imagine having to work under that kind of pressure, you never know when you are going to come in contact with it. you are working with that constant fear in your shoulders. the health professionals do the same thing you have to hand it to them. my heart goes out to them in my

prayers are with them. got bless them. host: will go to washington, d.c. what do you do for a living? caller: i am an i.t. worker. i was happy to see that text from the i.t. person who says we , not credit,dit but we are forgotten about in this essential worker thing. i work at a nursing home. host: do you have to go in? caller: i have to go in. sometimes i have to go into the rooms, but i have been trying to toit that for my exposure them and them to me. it is a concern and a fear or paranoia of being in contact with people peered most of the times i don't get calls but sometimes i have two go out and be with everybody here at work. area, i amland

concerned with people i see who are essential and i see them milling around and being very casual. the protesters as well. i think these people who are taking this thing lightly should sign a waiver about hospitals or care, that they are going to give up their rights to hospital care if they are going to carelessly themselves at risk when we know there is a pandemic out here, because they are making people who have to go to work and don't want to go and safe as well. host: we go to los angeles, ende. -- brenda. good morning to you. caller: my niece is an rn at a hospital in florida and the trauma unit. i asked her recently if she had enough supplies for personal care and protection, and she

said no. she said all of the nurses and her having to pull money together to get supplies. twitter,hing i saw on bethany frankel said she has a huge amount of hazardous supplies and all of this protective stuff and for agencies to contact her. i just wanted to put that out. host: brenda in los angeles. sandra in mississippi. what do you do for a living? caller: i am a sales associate and a part-time front desk employee. host: i missed that it would you do? caller: i am a sales clerk. host: and you are essential? caller: yes, ma'am. host: where are you reporting to

work? what is it like at your office? now, we are taking precautions for covid-19 and they are doing really good. we have to work around these people every day. we question will be, what do do we have to come in contact with people who travel on a daily basis. host: how are you staying safe? caller: we as masks and gloves. host: when you get home, what do you do before you walk into the house or after, what do you do to keep those around you safe? close: we keep our washed, shower, and keep things sanitized. host: tom in georgia. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. host: you're welcome.

what do you do? caller: i am what is classified as awork for the city scale operator. landfill.an inert we have contacted companies who come out here and pick up the debris off the side of the road, like the storms we have been having, the leaves and ranches and stuff of that nature peered it is essential that garbage of this nature is deposited out here and ground up and turned into mulch that is hauled off on 18 wheelers and taken to a plant where it is burned for energy. my job is very essential. however, the thing i disagree with is i call the mom and pop deliveries, where the people get out in the yards and they can't

stand the leaves and branches and they have to load the little $10 load and they come out and wearing masks and gloves paired on that disrespectful, but my first question to them is -- is this more important then you catching coronavirus? well, my wife that i have to clean the yard. me thing that really alarms and makes me fear is that i am a type two diabetic. if i don't work, i don't eat and pay my bills. i am highly sanitizing my hands, washing them. when i get home, i have a 20-year-old daughter in college who is home with the college shut down and with my wife and pets. we have a strip area at the door before you go inside and then i sanitize myself.

the thing that aggravates me most is the people that are spreading this virus are the ones that will not follow the rules. no matter what you tell them, they are not going to stay home. host: parry in california. good morning. caller: good morning. host: what do you do? caller: i work for the public works department. right now, we are doing everything we can. we are getting all ppe and making sure we have it on hand. my job at the moment is to keep track of all of this. this, wewe get like lock it away and store it at the city facilities, like city hall's insurer stations. we make sure everybody has what they need. we keep a detailed record. we try to make sure everybody is covered.

hall and parts of our city, we are probably 35% of worke actually on-site at that absolutely have to be there . i make sure they have all of their ppe anything they want we try to get. we have to go through a lot of different vendors because a lot of stuff is back ordered. we try to make sure that we keep on top of at this moment, the department is devoted to covid-19 testing. we have this big thing going on, we've got some tents out there a the parking lot, we have person that has to come in on the weekends and open up the auditorium to allow the virus

technicians to access computers that they are using. sayally, when i hear people that the testing, they are not getting enough, i would have to say here we are on top of it. host: ok. thank you for the call, first we will talk with national, titter centers jeffrey rosen to discuss the state's rights during this pandemic come and the response, so you have to himportunity to talk about your constitution questions. the american benefits council will discuss the impact of the pandemic on employer sponsored health care coverage. first, john bel edwards on sunday gave an update on where his state is with the coronavirus cases. take a look. >> i want to go through the

numbers today. i can report that at noon when we update the numbers on cases, new cases int 348 louisiana, to a total of just over three thousand cases. unfortunately we will also report 29 new deaths, a total of four 90 six deaths. the number of cases and the number of deaths are lower than they have been for the last number of days, which is a good thing. i would caution everybody that typically on sunday the numbers go down as a function of when the labs report and so forth good what we would like to see is a continued trajectory of tomorrow and tuesday and through the week. i do not yet have the number, but over the last number of days each day we have been reporting, even though the number of cases is growing, the people in the

hospital with covid-19 has been on a decrease, the number of patients in hospitals using ventilators has been disgracing .-decreasing the deaths are a lagging indicator. it takes about 11 days for covid-19o succumb to once the symptoms appear. a lot of times the deaths that we are reporting today actually happened not just last 20 four hours, but going back several days could obviously we grieve every time we report a death. i guess what i am saying is it still appears that we are trending in a good direction for that is a good thing. if you had been paying attention a month ago, when we were reporting the fastest growth anywhere in the world, with the in a hopkins data, we were much better place today than we

thought, and that is because our citizens are taking the orders seriously and making sure that they are social distancing. they do not go out in public any more often than they need to. when they do, they will wear masks just like everyone here today. and the personal hygiene remains important as well. one of the greatest things that i have seen not just today but since we've been engaged in this fight, this wall behind me and those hearts. hopevery thankful, and i there will be many more hearts on that wall before this is over. i believe there will be. this is obviously a difficult illness. many people have lost their lives, but most cover. they are recovering because of the great work being done by the health care professionals. joining us this morning is abouty rosen to talk

constitutional rights and the pandemic. you wrote an article in "the atlantic" recently. --t are you are fearing to referring to? monday it was said he had total authority to close or open the states and on wednesday he said he could adjourn --theys if they refers refused to follow his orders. cuomo said the president was not a king and rand paul agreed and said the powers were reserved to the states under the 10th amendment. what struck me was that alexander hamilton addressed this question precisely, which

would be great to check out if you want to get his full argument. and they were for reasons given while -- why the president -- the final reason that he gives is the fact that the president can only adjourn congress when both houses disagree, where's adjournish king can parliament whenever he likes as can the governor of new york the point was that even hamilton, the most pro-executive power advocate of all of the founders, who stood up at the convention and said that the president and senate should be elected for life, even he emphasized immense on presidential power. i went on to say that came from theory thatom a came from aristotle, and all of

these people said there are three orders in society, the one, the few and the many, and they had to balance and the various branches of the government. argument, and it was meaningful to go read, and that is the best thing you can do, is educate yourself. ride the primary sources yourself. read the federalist papers and other works of the founders to make up your mind. host: what are the concerns that hamilton had with what the president has been saying recently? guest: hamilton was extremely concerned that the president would seize the powers that belong to the people. oftook the example corruption, and said what if a president is engaging in

conspiracy, and the president people, but that power does not extend to impeachment. the new york governor by contrast or some governors at the time were allowed to have their pardons extend even in the case of impeachment, and hamilton worried this meant a corrupt official who was more interested in his own interest could use his powers to serve himself rather than the country. host: how does that apply to this pandemic? guest: what people are focusing on is whether or not the states should have to reopen. the question is whether the president has the power to open up the states. u.s. system, since the president did not close the states to begin with, he does not have the power to open them.

the states have emergency power to open or close themselves in the states of public health threats. the federal government does have emergency powers, but only those delegated to the president by congress. the president has two powers, as the commander in chief, he can take care of the laws are executed. if you were going to distribute masks across the country, he would have to invoke a delegated or the national emergency act that he invoked to try to build the wall. it is interesting that under the system his powers come from congress, and there have been epidemicsome of the of the late 19th century and during the spanish flu where the federal government issued quarantine orders to support the state governors. interestingly there's never been a case where the federal

government has tried to close or open the entire country on its own. it is not clear from the legal authorities whether he can actually do that. host: the 10th amendment reads as such, the powers not delegated to the united states by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people. how does this fit in? guest: that was a crucial reminder of the time of the constitution of the federalism and the limited power of the federal government, both the federalists and the antifederalists feared that the u.s. government would become a consolidated entity that would take away all powers from the states. madison and hamilton said he do not have to worry about it. look at congress, it has the power to regulate interstate commerce or to run a post office

or to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. powers not have a general to summon up the military and run a police state, to have standing armies. those powers are denied to congress. the president only has enumerated powers. , don't of those reasons worry that the federal government will become one of consulted powers in american. madison said we are a country of dual sovereignty. are sovereign to and within their sphere, but the we, thet part is people, we have the sovereign authority.

we delegated some of it to our representatives in federal government, parceling out among the president and the congress and the judiciary under parts of our powers delegated to the state governors, but ultimately power comes from us, and when we believe our rights are being infringed, we can either protest or, of course there is the right to abolish government by revolution. it is a pretty radical theory that all of the founders embraced based on the idea of popular sovereignty and the idea that the president is not a king, nor is andrew cuomo. we do not have any kings here. host: jeffrey rosen is taking onr questions this morning your constitutional rights.

if you live in eastern central part of the country,, the and let's listen to what the president had to say. >> if a governor issued a state -- say my authority, it is the authority of the president. someone is the president of the authority, and the authority is total. that is the way it has to be. host: jeffrey rosen, the authority is total and that is the way it's got to be. guest: that is not the theory of the u.s. constitution. this is behind me, on the so i will try to describe to you the consensus on both sides of the aisle. case agrees in this

that this authority is not total. ,t is enumerated and limited primarily the commander in chief of the armed forces, and the president does not have the authority to declare war. in america that is the power of congress, not the president. he has the power to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, but not to make law which is why some executive some are argued are constitutionally questionable. there is a debate today about how broad the power is, and if you want to learn more about it, check out the national constitution interactive constitution, where we have summoned scholars to write about each clause, describing what they agree and disagree about. is then article two, which the part of the constitution

enumerated the powers of the president, they describe the difference between what they call executive power, minimalist .nd maximalist they are really surprisingly few. congress has all of the enumerated powers in this article, and the president only has a handful. the maximalist believe that the that that allows him to exercise powers that are not written down, not enumerated. you will remember in the debate about the war on terror, whether the president have the power to detain people indefinitely or to tapping andre

telephone calls for national security read maximalist claim that total executive power could not be infringed in any way, so that is a meaningful debate. i'm not claiming that everyone agrees about the scope of the power but i am pretty confident in saying that the claim that the presidential authority is total is not one that either side accepts. your question or comment on constitutional rights, are color from texas. first of all, the president was sworn in and became the president and took an , and then he became the president. tookuthority and all that place, but first he was a civilian and then he became the president after the oath.

i know he has a job description, where has three of these he describes his job. would you read that out to me please? wonderful caller: -- guest: that is a wonderful question. let's read it. it is in the constitution. you can look online. i am holding up my interactive constitution. both the text of the constitution, which is his job description, and then you can see these areas written by the scholars. the executive power shall be vested in a president of the united states of america.

that is what is called the vesting clause, which has the disagreement about how broad this is. when he took that oath that are not listed in the rest of his job description, it says he shall hold his office for four years. that was a big debate that hamilton said he thought the president should be elected for life. the original draft of the term is going to be seven years, with only one possibility of serving over the election. and then it talks about how each state chooses the electoral college. is atis a debate that noon today, and the supreme court this term will hear two really important to cases , called theate laws faithless electoral laws, and the court will decide that they are consistent with the

president's job description here in article two. then it gives the qualifications . you have to be 30 five years old, so that is a clear requirement. he gets a salary. and it says at his oath, remember when president obama took the oath and the chief justice changed it because he had to take it again to make sure he got it right. this isn't going to take too long, the job description is really not very long. the presidentys shall be commander in chief of the army and navy and of the militia of the several states when called into the actual service of the united states, so it has to be congress that summons up, lesha -- the militia. washington action rides at the front of the militia to put down

the whiskey rebellion which was against taxes against whiskey. he can ask executive departments for their opinions. about the fact that he cannot dangle pardons in front of people who have conspired with him to prevent them from being impeached. he has the power to make treaties, but two thirds of the senate have to concur and to the point ambassadors and other officers of the united states whose appointments are not otherwise provided by law. and congress can put the --ointed this is a huge issue, can the president fire any official who he appoints? is anomes down to if it officer who in appoints rather than congress, executive power maximalist think he should be able to fire them.

he can fill up vacancies that happen during the recess of the senate, and that's what was going on last week. the president said if the senate will not confirm my officials, i want to be able to have recess appointments, which is a complicated question, and the fact that the -- that they were recessed for only days and times, so those windows he could make these appointments, and the supreme court recently said he could not do that. we've only got two more sections. section surely -- he shall give congress advice about the state of the union, and so that means he can make recommendations but he cannot make the law. is up to congress to make the law. , hextraordinary occasions

may convene both houses or either of them and in cases of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall take proper. hamilton puts that in capital and both houses have to disagree about the time of adjournment, and in this case that was not going on. then, here is the crucial language, he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. that is the take care part, the one that gives him all of the power to execute the laws, but not make them. is final section impeachment, the president and vice president and all officers of the united states shall be removed from office via notachment, and these are

-- i'm so mad you asked for the job description. we see how few powers he has. the ability to grant --i will not run through it all again. you heard it. it is not a lot, and that is why hamilton said in many respects the powers are less in the british king or the governor of new york. host: if our viewers are interested, they can look at the thatactive constitution jeffrey rosen was referring to. let's go to seattle. go ahead with your question or comment. caller: good morning. my question or, is this, this might sound crazy, but i feel like as a citizen of the united states, this is propaganda. when ebola came to the knighted

states, there was no social the sensing. --came to the united states, there was no social distancing. some of our people have recovered and so many people have died, and so i am confused that how are you going to stop being around each other when epidemics werel really big. host: let's get to the rules of the governors are putting in but someme guidelines, rules as well on social distancing. we have had governor saying if you go to a grocery store in our state, you need to wear a mask, stay six feet apart. validese constitutionally policies that they are making? could one argue this is coercion? that is a great question.

buts a legal buzzword, courts are unlikely to accept those arguments. it seems counterintuitive. you are right when you say -- why do state governors have this power? courts have held that state broadors do have a pretty if not unlimited police power to regulate what is called health, safety and morals. unlike the federal government, state governments do not have enumerated powers, they can do anything the state bill of rights do not prohibit. right afteremics, the constitution was drafted, state governments basically close down and prevented people from meeting in philadelphia and

they told people they could not gather in order to not get yellow fever. the supreme court looked at this question and upheld this power, and one case involved compulsory vaccination. saidupreme court massachusetts said citizens had to accept vaccinations even if their religious leaves help them to want to reject them. the threat to the public health was so great that people had to be coerced into being vaccinated. that is even more extreme than wearing masks. the court said the police power was so broad that it is ok. , we'veuarantine orders been seeing a bunch of legal challenges to them. there was a church in florida that said it violated these

rights. courts are likely to reject that claim as long as churches are not being singled out. the order applies to all groups larger than if the and not just religious groups. some people have set our second violated amendments are being violated, and the supreme court said religious people can seek exemptions from laws that apply to everyone in the same way in one case. some of these cases are coming out of the courts, texas has held that women can only get abortions if they are necessary to save the life of the mother. some people are saying that violates the right affirmed in the planned parenthood case that says you can have abortions before legal viability without undue burdens being opposed.

if the quarantine goes on for a long time, it is not impossible to imagine the supreme court taking a case like that. but broadly, as long as it is a limited duration, because the president and the states cannot do what is been done in a good -- in hungry, that would completely violate the constitution. the pasts have held in the states governments in particular do have extremely broad authority. host: what about lawful assembly? who has the authority to stop people from lawful assembly? you touched on that with the churches, but who has that power? guest: state governors have the power under these emergency the president could exercise similar authority on

federal land, even assembly time, are limited by place and manner restrictions as long as they are content neutral . another word the governors were saying you cannot have a protest against my quarantine order come all of those people who were saying open up the states, you could not just ban those protests but allow protests in favor of the governor. but if the orders are neutral, basically no assembly of people over 50 for public health reasons, generally those are upheld. these questions could become much more serious if the quarantine goes on for a long time, say it comes up toward elections, and governors are preventing protests that seem to favor one party or another, then that could raise questions. we are doing a series of live

classes on the constitution at 1:00 p.m. at the constitution center. we just taught freedom of assembly last week, and it was how few cases there were recently that tended to be assumed under the amendment officials, but at the time of the framing, william penn, who was the quaker that was prosecuted in england, try to hold alleges gatherings. the king prohibited them because he did not like quakers. william penn said when he was being tried for this crime, mind your privilege. he was saying stand up for your rights. the jury acquitted him. that is a powerful idea in favor maybe it could be problematic and those could be

tested if the quarantine goes on for a long time. this is angela from maryland. caller: i have a question about the interstate commerce clause. states a talk about the been forced to reopen using this clause, which i do not see any cases for that. i wanted your opinion. guest: great question. so much of the scope of presidential and congressional power comes down to that clause today. that was the whole debate over obama care, where five justices said the president had no power to a law passed by congress to regulate health care because it was not a fundamentally economic activity. it did not have a substantial effect on interstate commerce. in one case from 19 95, the

court struck down a federal law taking guns next to schools. it is certainly the case that the president does not have the power on his own to invoke the congress power. it would have to be congress passing the law saying that states have to open up. if congress were to pass that law, hypothetically, if the governor said we want to keep this quarantine going and congress said the economy is at a standstill, it is important to , and iing, i do think will ask you, do you think that would have enough of an effect on interstate commerce to be justified? i think so. the whole point is we want services to travel from state to state these orders are

prohibiting that. my instinct is that congress could pass a law opening up the states as long as their emergency powers have not asked powered --have not expired. host: she is not with us anymore, so i apologize. this is ronald from louisiana. appreciate a lot that you have said pretty have made some very good points on some of the stuff, but going back, all the way back to where you talked about the king and about town --t trump, press president trump has done as much or better than any president we have ever had, and as far as i have seen, he may say that he can shut down this state are that state or whatever, but what

he was mainly talking about that you obviously missed is that you had some of the states that did not want to shut down. they wanted to keep going. he wanted to make sure that they were shut down or the testing would not work. ceo, i would've thought you would've picked up on some of that, but obviously you have done a lot of jumping around on a lot of different things. mr. rosens let respond. guest: i appreciate that. everything i'm saying only has to do with the presidential constitutional authority. at my job is not to talk about policy questions. i'm not allowed to even have any opinions about what the president should do my job is to

describe what the constitution allows or provides him to do. that's why i was confident in saying that people on all sides of the spectrum would reject the claim that hit the president has total authority on his own to open the states. it is a good policy? is it a good idea to have a core needed effort that had everyone open and shut at the same time? to opineot my business about that. you might be right. there have been some liberal scholars think the president should be doing more to exercise the authority that he actually has. there wasmy podcasts a scholar who said he has all of this power to really coordinate the removal of masks, and another scholar said he should've shut the whole country right away, and that he might've had more authority to open it.

those are questions that i will not express an opinion on. i'm saying that the constitution does not give him unilateral authority unchecked by the congress or the states to do whatever he likes. those are good thoughts. do you see this playing out with a republican philosophy toward government versus how democrats view how the government operates, and if so, can you explain? guest: great question. speaking broadly, democrats these days tend to be hamiltonian's and republicans more jeffersonians. hamilton had a broad view of , that thepower president should be elected for life, and democrats think

congress should have broad authority under their power to , includinge economy the affordable care act. publicans have a more limited view of federal power. that is why they do not think the affordable care act is unconstitutional, and they believe in the states rights, the 10th commitment --amendment. they think the rule by executive order is dangerous and that , andess should legislate now of course whenever a party gets into power, often they will abandon their scruples. that is not a partisan of his asian to say -- obama issued a lot of executive orders when he was president, but speaking broadly you would expect republicans -- you would expect them to be in

favor of giving the state governors a lot of power to do whatever they think is best without federal oversight, and democrats winning the president to have nearly total authority if not complete authority to open or shut the states and act on a federal level. in fact it is the opposite. we are seeing democrats questioning the claim that the president has total authority and republicans saying that he has broader authority than the states allow. all this suggests the importance , and you're taking the time to educate yourself this morning, if you are a hamiltonian, we won regardless of who is in power, and these constitutional principles of commerce and power versus states rights are important. people fought wars to defend these throughout history. either position is possible, but

just be consistent paired we are not seeing that in washington right now. from our color is mississippi. caller: my question is, are state governors, where they derive our rights to bridge our first amendment rights because, in one section the 14th amendment extends the right to the people, and also the 10th amendment to the people, to gather. let is the chain of command the state governors went through to abridge the right of assembly ? they have targeted churches, but they left liquor stores and abortion clinics open. who is it that the state governors decided what was essential, that churches cannot assemble which is their first amendment right. that is a wonderful

question. i'm so glad you mentioned that amendment. to answer your question, state governors and governments are bound to abide by the religion guarantees and the simile guarantees of the first amendment. the first amendment seems to apply only to congress because congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, and yet today as you said, the state governments have to abide by that. that is because of the 14th amendment, and largely because of concerns about state governments violating the free speech rights of abolitionists , freezeng slavery speech rights being infringed, that is why we passed the 14th amendment, which says --

forgive me if i mess up these words. persons born or naturalized in the united states are citizens of the united states and of the state wherein they reside that overturns the dred scott decision and says everyone born here is a citizen here. it says no state shall abridge the privileges of citizens of the united states nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty without due process nor deny to any person within jurisdiction the protection of the law. , those privileges included the rights of the first amendment as you said, including exercisingof religion and assembly. how is it, you are asking, that state governors have the

authority to abridge what is a clear right that they have to abide, according to this amendment. is what thethis courts have said is that the governors have emergency power in their efforts to protect public health effectively to suspend or put on hold those assemblies and those religious rights as long as there are not directedmblies at the services themselves. if there is any indication that the governors were trying to discriminate against religion, that would be completely unconstitutional. if it is a general law of , accordinglicability to the smith case, then it is ok generally. here's another question why your question -- here's an a on --

here's another reason why your question is so great. this is a question that the court's hearing nowadays, and the court just agreed for the first time in history to have neverral arguments, before in history were we able to do that. in one of the cases involves whether a religiously scrupulous business can get an exemption from some mandates based on their moral objections. thehe hobby lobby case court said that a religious business did not have to provide the same abortion encounter and contraception protection because of these guarantees. we all remember the baker case, where the baker did not want to bake the cake because he did not approve of gate marriages. it might be that the court is willing to overturn that neutral that said that

laws of general applicability after treat religion and other groups the same, and they might be inclined to create exemptions for churches who are burdened by these laws. that is in the future. at the moment, for better or worse, the courts have said that religious assemblies are no different than any other. the same constitutional status, despite those first amendment guarantees that you noted and as you said, they are applied to the 14th amendment. host: we have only a couple minutes left, but here's a question from one of our viewers. he is from iowa. this is a debate that is happening, does the present at the power to postpone the presidential election? he does not. the constitution said that the president has to be sworn in on january 20, so we know that

cannot be changed. congress has passed a series of laws having to do with ,ccounting of electoral votes and this is in order to be definitively county the ballots have to be counted by december 12 in the final count is december 20. congress could change the law regarding the counting of electoral votes, but the president, under its power to regulate the time, place and manner of elections, the president has no power whatsoever to do that. he cannot issue an executive order calling off the election. the main thing that we have to note is the constitution gives primary authority to set the terms to the states. that is in the 14th amendment and did not federalize the power to set election laws but each

state draws electoral districts and chooses the date and time of the elections. that is why we saw in wisconsin that case that went up to the supreme court where wisconsin, the governor and court wanted to count ballots that were received after election day. but before the extended deadline, and the supreme court said you cannot change the deadline at the last minute. it didn't make any sense, they said, because the male was not working, and that was the nature of that dispute. one of the big topics we have been talking about, this protects the people from having an income but try to entrench himself by postponing the election. the federal present has no power over the time and place of the election. that is left up to congress, and regardless of what all of them

decide, the constitution requires any president be inaugurated on january 20th, 2021. host: if you want to learn more so you can debate more of these issues as jeffrey rosen said, you can go to constitution center.org. for your, we thank you time this morning. we have a discussion on the covid-19 pandemic impacting employer-sponsored health care and aridge --coverage, global health policy center discussion on the role of the world health organization, and the decision to cut funding to this group. but first here's the vice update on ua'san and recovery. >> it was reported to us that at this moment more than seven hundred 46,000 americans have

tested positive for the coronavirus. more than 68,000 americans have fully recovered, but sadly more than 41,000 americans have lost their lives to the coronavirus. we always want to express our deepest sympathies to the families in their loss as well of all of the families who have loved ones who are struggling with this disease. today we've seen encouraging news again about the progress as a nation. the president reflected on those momentarily, but the coronavirus white house task force today learned that our large metro areas continue to stay believes -- stabilize and see progress. the metro area all appeared to be past their peak come and the detroit metro area appears to be

past its peak and is stable. the new orleans metro area is the most stable of all areas where we had a major outbreak. but then the -- the denver metro area is stable. we are dealing with a meatpacking plant issue there, and of course california and washington remain low and steady. areas we watch carefully on the task force include the chicago metro area, boston metro and the philadelphia metropolitan area. the progress that we are making is a tribute to the american people. it is a tribute to state and local legal -- leaders and the partnership that we have forged. we want to encourage every heedcan to continue to your state and local authorities. the american people note no one

wants to reopen america more than the president. i want to assure you we will continue to work with the governors of the states and with the presidential guidelines for opening up america again. we will work in a way to consolidate the progress that we have made and help move our states toward reopening our country. communicators,he the ceo of the national association of broadcasters on how broadcasters are funding to the outbreak. a is interviewed by communications daily executive editor. >> what are the precautions and different steps that your members are taking right now, whether it's internally, working from home, as we mentioned, or whether it is changes they are making in programming and such? is thatis interesting

broadcasters are also people that live in their local communities, trying to be good citizens. example,members for they are heeding the warnings coming from the cdc and the white house about ways that we can participate in reducing the spread, so they are pooling out ands, crews that go sharing in ways that you normally do not expect competitors to be doing. these are ways that are lawful and very important right now. >> watch tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. washington journal continues. host: joining us this morning is the health policy senior with

the american benefits council to talk about employer-sponsored health care. good morning. thank you so much. trend forhe employer-based health insurance before covid-19? guest: certainly before covid-19, let me say that employers sponsored covered, at least before the crisis, 178 million americans and their families got coverage from their employers. if you're talking about the trend, health care cost was a top concern even before the crisis. right now this economic and public health crisis has raised questions and concerns about making sure that that system can still provide affordable coverage to millions of americans including those who have just lost their job.

kaiserccording to the family foundation and cnbc, the average annual premiums for coverage in 2019 are over $7,000, and 20,000 four family coverage for workers covered by their employer plan. that is a 4-5% increase over 2018. 3.4% ines increased by inflation by two percent. before this pandemic, how were people making ends meet and covering their health care costs? guest: we know that before the pandemic, health care costs were a top concern for working families. indeed, all individuals. our member companies and employees were committed to really addressing the drivers of higher health care costs and

indeed working with congress and policymakers to get at the underlying drivers of higher health care costs are so that employers can continue to offer affordable and high quality health care and really with a focus on value. host: what is the american benefits council? who do you represent and how are you funding? we are washington, d.c. based employee benefits public policy organization advocating for employers dedicated to achieving the best in class solutions for the retirement and health security of health-care workers or families. members include over 220 of the world's largest corporations and collectively either direct sponsor therectly benefits of virtually all americans covered by employer-sponsored plans.

host: we want to invite our viewers to join in. if you live in the eastern central part of the country, (202) 748-8000, and in the pacific portion of the country, (202) 748-8001. who will have to cover the increased in costs of health care due to this pandemic? guest: right now employees are focused on how they can help their employees and their families through this public health and economic crisis. employers have already taken significant steps to try to support their employees during this crisis. they have been taking action to improve screening and prevention and treatment of covid-19 and

enhance access to telehealth services. yet while we are all trying to get through this crisis day by day, and there's also a great deal of uncertainty about how the virus will impact health care costs next year. the stakes of guessing wrong are significant. when there is a new high-cost illness or cure, you can expect to see a rise in premiums the following year to try to recoup some of those higher costs. covid-19 has an enormous amount of uncertainty about what those costs will be just as there is a great deal of uncertainty about the virus itself, how many people will be infected, how .eriously this will get when will a cure or a vaccine be available, we just do not have the answers.

we have seen some studies indicating that the cost of inpatient covid-19 treatment could exceed $20,000, $90,000 for a patient who has been on prolonged ventilator support according to research from the kaiser family foundation. there's also some other reports about the projected total costs for the commercial market of the covid-19 crisis and treating covid-19 in the commercial market, including foyer plans and also individual plans. those range from a total of 34 billion nationwide to 251 billion nationwide. there is a potential that those costs could even be higher. that information comes from covered california, the official insurance market place in california. covered california also said,

how will that translate into premium increases, because those extra costs that are unanticipated for a new illness or new treatments, and we talked about what they may be for covid-19, they have to be translated into premiums to try to recoup those costs. covered california estimated the premium increases in the individual and employer markets from 4%1, could range the0% for covid-19 in absence of any federal action from congress. host: this is tony from arkansas. good morning. you are up first. i have a question. on socialt people

security are getting their stimulus checks last week. and i am wondering why we are not getting our checks. host: we are talking about health care issues. let's go to lorraine in new york. caller: my question is, my understanding is there has been a merger of a large commercial insurance. they used to be 30 or 100 of them right now there are only 12 big companies. i question is around profits, how much on average do large insurance company, commercial companies make in profit and take off the top for themselves? that is my question. certainly i think before

the covid-19 crisis, we were looking again at what some of the underlying drivers of higher thish care costs are in country, including consolidation and competition and certainly those questions continue and will continue to try to address some of those drivers of health care. we also know that many of the largest insurance companies have also really been at the forefront of trying to take care and make sure that individuals and families were covered and had access to the treatment and care that they need and affordably so during this crisis. pat in austin texas, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i am a retired government employee, and i still have my

employer benefits. i will be turning 65 next year. and i am not sure of the next steps. i think i need to go to social security and do something, and i think you have to have everything done within three months of your birthday. thisuestion is, with pandemic, will they be extending that time? because most offices are closed right now. i had planned on getting this is done, now that i can't, will there be any extension for that, and what really are my next steps? thank you? . >> i think your question just highlights how this crisis is affecting all of us in so many different ways, including figuring out where you go and

what you do to file -- to become eligible in sign up for medicare -- to become eligible and sign up for medicare. hopefully there will be more information. whether it is signing up for health care or many other things that you really cannot do in person anymore. best of luck to you as you navigate this. what do you schuman want congress and the companies you represent to do to protect employer-based insurance? guest: thank you so much. let me just say that i think this is a critical time for congress to support employer-based system. the employer-based system is critical. congress can act now. andcan act now to provide

ensure continued affordable coverage for employees who have lost their jobs by providing cobra subsidies, and i mean real meaningful cobra subsidies. they have done it before in 2008, 2009 during the financial crisis. during that time, cobra 65%.idies were about the remaining 35% was still too extensive for many families that had no source of income. so we are asking congress now, and congress can do it now, we have this in place, to provide subsidies to at least 90% to 100% for those employees who have lost their jobs. we now know that those ranks now are 22 million and growing. more tos can also do provide assistance for employers, who while they themselves are facing economic uncertainty, are continuing to

provide health care coverage for their employees, including covering the full cost of health care coverage for the furloughed employees. we want congress to act now to help those employers continue to help their employees. congress needs to act now to protect workers from these premium increases i was talking about before. year,y not be until next because of this unanticipated and uncertain cost related to treating covid-19. to act nowlso needs to protect patients from surprise billing. this was something we were so committed to, and employers were committed to finding a solution to. this was when a patient goes to the hospital and sees it network provider and they receive a surprise balance will

that they did not anticipate. -- a surprise, balance or a bill that they did not anticipate. health care workers are our heroes, and we can to support, but we also need to make sure that employers who are being treated for covid-19 don't come out of that with a surprise medical bill. we want congress to protect those patients and to provide lasting solutions to protect surprise billing. let me just say, the , foroyer-based system supporting employer-sponsored coverage is the best way to continue to provide affordable, high-quality coverage to millions of americans, including those who have just lost their jobs. i don't want the unprecedented nature of this crisis and in a

job loss associated with it to take away from the fundamental value of the employer-sponsored system. it still covers more individuals than medicare and medicaid combined. it drives innovation and good quality outcomes. it reimburses hospitals at a much higher rate than medicare or medicaid. so i think it is fundamental. what we want congress to do is to support employer-sponsored system so that workers can keep the affordable coverage that they have, so workers who have lost their jobs can keep affordable employer-sponsored coverage. that is what is critical. congress already passed more than $2.2 trillion to help workers. and there is nothing more important for congress to do

than help workers through this health-care crisis. bailout foris a major corporations? is not a bailout for major corporations. i wouldn't even call it a bailout. i think it is responsibility to workers don'tt lose their health care coverage. sure, it ismake vitally important during this covid-19 crisis, that everyone has access to health care. we have to shore up and support the health care system to make sure that can happen. so congress has a responsibility to do that to the workers of this country including those that have lost their jobs. host: senator bernie sanders writes in an op-ed today "our broken system laid there the uncertainty and cruelty of our employer-based private health care insurance system should be apparent to all.

as tens of millions of americans are losing their income as a result of the pandemic, many of them are also losing their insurance. that is what happens when health care is seen as an employee benefit, not a guaranteed right." response. guest: i understand the concern. it is a valid question to raise now. belie theesn't underlying value of the employer-sponsored system. and this unprecedented crisis, the job loss associated with it doesn't undermine the intrinsic value of them play -- intrinsic value of the employer-sponsored system. we have mechanisms in place to help workers who have lost their job. congress, by passing over subsidies, can take care of it. we have affordable care act exchanges that, if they were

funded and if there was adequate premium support, could take care of people that either lost their job or are uninsured. we have those. we have mechanisms in place right now to support all americans. congress just needs to make sure they have access to that. and again, i think the fundamental value of the employer-sponsored system is supporting our hospitals and critical.ders, it is because funding for medicare and medicaid will not do that. moret now there is nothing important than making sure hospitals and health care providers can do what they need to do. host: let's get to some more calls. scott in new york. caller: good morning. i would like to say, i am a god-fearing christie and number

one -- god-fearing christian, number one. number two, bernie sanders is right. this is why we need medicare-for-all so we don't bankrupt the system and kill poor people. to my brother in the white should pray, because prayer is what this world needs today. god bless the humans of america and all the world. guest: thank you. thank you, and again, understand that that question in this environment about linking health care to job-based, employment, even under the current system, congress can take action to make sure that workers who have lost their jobs and those that are uninsured have access to

affordable health care. i want to stress the point about how the employer -sponsored system actually supports our hospitals and providers and supports stability for the health-care system itself. longer-term, once we get through this crisis, let's get back to those questions about what we can do to fix and make the current system stronger. getting at some of those underlying drivers of higher health care costs, and also looking to see how we can care, and low-value how we can get the biggest bang out of our buck for health care dollars. i do think this is an important point to make if we are talking about a return on investment for employer-sponsored system -- for every one dollar of federal revenue spent on the tax favored treatment for employer-sponsored coverage,

employers spend $4.45 on health care coverage for their employees and working families. returns more than a 4:1 on investment. it would cost far more and it would not have the kind of return on investment. we would not have the kind of innovation that we could have now. so let's have a longer-term discussion about how we improve the system and see where there is opportunity to fix it, and where there is gaps that need to be filled. host: let's go to david in texas. good morning. question or comment? caller: can you hear me? host: yes, we can. all right, we will move on. lynn.shop, california, apologies. i live in california,

and you mentioned covered california. i just think it is the biggest crime on the planet that taxpayers are subsidizing these insurance companies. when you talk about people being covered on covered california, and they are subsidized by subsidies, those our taxpayer dollars that the insurance companies are getting. then when you go to use your insurance -- i don't have covered california, i don't qualify. we pay $17 a month with a $5,000 deductible, then they deny the doctors we want to go to. they deny our care. you have to almost fight for everything. year before i a even can begin to use my insurance. so the insurance companies are so corrupt. if congress wanted to help the

american people, they would stop these ridiculous tax-funded payments to the insurance company and help the american people by requiring the insurance companies to pay for medical care for people who pay their bills every month. thank you. guest: will thank you for your question. as i said before, even before we wereid-19 crisis, looking to see how we can make the current health care system more affordable for families and individuals across the whered states, including you are in california and in every state. right now, i know that insurance companies really have been very much on the forefront of making sure, as have thatoyers, making sure

employees have access to the kind of treatment that they need for covid-19, and screening. and again, let's get through this crisis. congress -- itp is about helping -- it is about helping american workers and their families, about helping all americans through this crisis. again, thank you for your comments. host: you have mentioned a couple of times that companies have been trying to get at the underlying drivers of health care costs before this pandemic. and obviously, they would return to that under after -- latch after this. what are the underlying -- and obviously, they would return to that after this. what are the underlying drivers of rising health care costs? guest: the marketplace is a little distorted. how we need to fix some of the

underlying drivers in the health care marketplace that are leading to these out-of-network balance. i want to stress that our providers in the hospitals are heroes in this battle. but there is also a business model for private equity-backed staffing firms that provide emergency services or other out-of-network services, to charge far in axis of what the market rates are. don't haveployees the selection. that is the kind of thing we to, fix before what about is doing, is generating these astronomical bills from out-of-network providers, imbalanced bills that can bankrupt workers and their families. we are trying to fix that. i think the covid-19 crisis, if anything, has highlighted how important that is. --so, we at the council

member employers have long been advocating for greater transparency in health care with respect to both cost and quality. that is a critical piece of it. is actually legislation that the senate health, education, labor and pensions committee approved last summer. the lower health care costs act was aimed at fixing some of these underlying distortions in the health care marketplace, to add more competition, to add more transparency, to fix the surprise billing. i think once we get through this crisis, that is what we need to do. to be able to drive lower costs and higher quality health care for americans. host: what about the responsibility of the employee toward his or her own health care? guest: absolutely. that is a great point.

forhink part of this is, the employee to have that responsibility for their own health care, they have to have more information to be able to ande informed decisions, they need to have choices. that is what is really important. it is critical for the employees to have that information, just like you would if you were buying a car. you know what you are buying, you shop around. i think that is important, even when you are talking about your own health, and nothing seems more important right now than that, it is important to have that information, too. host: michael in kentucky. caller: good morning. i am calling because i have exhausted every avenue that i can find. i am a social security recipient. my wife is totally disabled. we both have underlying

conditions. and perhaps this is not part of your purview, but i keep hearing about the covid-19 stimulus package, and people are receiving benefits, which i think is a good thing. you have children, you have to feed them. are senior citizens that staying in their homes like they are required to do, are spending a lot more money than ifey normally would spend they were free to come and go, because we have to stock up on everything medically. host: michael, i will jump in, because that is not part of our conversation this morning. ilyse schuman, i would like to end by asking you what progress has been made by your group and to act?to get congress could it be part of this small business aid we are hearing about, a possible deal announced today? are there provisions in that, or are you expecting another

package? guest: we are hoping for another package. let me just say, this is not an employer of gender. we are a charter member of the alliance -- it is not an employer agenda. the council is a charter member .of the alliance local government and other stakeholders with support employer-sponsored coverage, and urging congress to take action now, if not in this package but in phase four. we know there is a lot of business congress needs to do to take care of american workers, both of those who have lost their jobs, and those who still have them, to make sure they still have access to affordable coverage. we have to help those workers who have lost their jobs with subsidies. those that are for lord, we have to make sure that employers who are making contributions on your behalf, that they don't have to feel

the hit of that. congress needs to act to protect against those spikes in premiums we talked about before, while at the same time, shoring up the individual and the hospitals and providers on the front line. it is critical. more importantng that congress has to do right now than provide this kind of relief so we can make sure the employer-sponsored system stays thatng through this and every american can get the health care that they need. ilyse schuman, american benefits council, thank you so much for your time. guest: thank you so much. host: today, c-span will be covering the white house task force briefing as we have been doing every day from beginning to end letting you decide how much or all of it you want to watch. we have also put together some graphics on the briefings that

have been taking place over the last weeks and months on the coronavirus pandemic. take a look at the treat we sent out -- at the tweet we sent out so you can get an idea of the speakers at each briefing. the darker shades indicate 6-10 speakers. purple indicates 10 last speakers. speakers.s we also put together how much each speaker has chosen. we will be covering today's briefing, 5:00 p.m. eastern time is one it is slated to start -- is when it is slated to start. up next, stephen morrison from the center for strategic international studies global center, will be discussing the role of the world health organization and president trump's decision to cut funding to the organization. but first, new york governor

andrew cuomo with another one of his briefings yesterday, giving an update on coronavirus in his state. [video clip] governor cuomo: total hospitalization date is down once again. 16,000.down to we were at 18,000 people hospitalized for a parent of time. it flattened for a while, it paused. then it went to 17,000. from our high point of 16,000. a big question, whether we are past the apex, past the high point. it turned out the high point was not a point, it was a plateau. we got up to a high point and then we stayed at that level for a while. the data holes, and if this trend holds, we are past .the high point all indications at this point

are that we are on a d escent. whether or not the descent continues, we'll have to see. hospitalization numbers are down. the three-day average of the hospitalization rates are down. that is what michael is seeing in his hospital system. that is what emergency rooms across the state are saying. that they see the maximum inflow is less than what it was. that all tracks with what the numbers are saying. this number of intubations which i watch carefully, are the intubations number of people put on ventilators. and 80% of people put on in tomatoes don't make it. people who are put on the delete is don't make it. so this number is very

important. this is a reality check. with all the good news in haveuctions, we still people that yesterday came in and tested positive and were hospitalized. people coming of into the hospital system with that diagnosis. less than it had been, so that is good news, but it is still 1300 people who are testing positive and need hospitalization. we have been watching the spread of the virus from the new york city area. there have been little outbursts on long island in upstate new york and we have been jumping on those out bursts, but over all, we have controlled it. the numbers are about the same. westchester and rockland where we had real problems -- the first problem was in westchester county, in new rochelle. but westchester county, long

island, upstate new york is only about 7% of cases. we are watching the spread in other parts of the state but so far we have contained it and controlled it. >> washington journal continues. host: stephen morrison is the global health policy center director at the center for strategic and international studies here to talk about the world health organization. mr. morrison, what is the world health organization, and why does it exist? guest: thank you, greta. 1948, whenated in many of the core constituent you and agencies were put together. it is what is called a member-state organization, the holden to the sovereign states of the world, and it is there -- beholden to the sovereign states of the world and it is there to serve their interests. it is bound by that. it doesn't have a lot of

leverage. it has to be highly deferential. it's diplomacy with member states is conducted mainly out of view. it doesn't get into competitions with member states, it has to balance many competing pressures from those member states. it sets global norms and posted get her scientific expertise to designate what are essential medicines and what our safety standards and the like. it plays that kind of mobilizing and leadership role. it conducts programs that are particularly important, particularly in low income countries where the w.h.o. is a lot of times the major donor in sector.lth it is maternal and neonatal child health, nutrition, polio control, the global polio eradication initiative, w.h.o. then key partner in that, it plays a very important role

in its emergency programs. and that is responding to outbreaks like the coronavirus and to natural disasters. it has fairly sophisticated capacities for monitoring outbreaks globally and being in a position to mobilize very rapidly. it serves those major functions. under the leadership today of dr. tedros, former if european foreign minister and health minister -- former ethiopian foreign minister and health minister. he also chaired the global h.i.v., t.b. and malaria. host: we at c-span have been showing our viewers the briefings that the world health organization has done multiple times a week, to let the world know what their efforts are and

how they are going about responding to covid-19. some have been critical of the 's leadership of the organization. why is that? guest: the criticism that have come from president trump, from other members of his administration and analyze, particularly republican members of congress, have centered on a few items. too is that, it is china-centric. i think what they mean that the who has been too cozy with the chinese, to accepting on face sharedthe data that was with the w.h.o. and passed on uncritically in w.h.o. statements, particularly in early germany when there was speculation about whether this was a new virus that had -- early january, when there was

speculation about whether this was a new virus that had human to human treatment. this is a related issue around taiwan. taiwan has not had a observer status since 2018. to participate in the world health assembly, the annual meeting of health ministers, it has been excluded as well from technical committees. fort has been a problem global health, to have a country of the size of taiwan excluded from those the liberations. but it has been a very, very difficult issue to resolve, partly because president xi in china has taken such a hard-line view, particularly with changes in the governing taiwan.re in another issue that has come up is the criticism that the w.h.o. was too slow to declare a public health emergency of international concern in late january, and it was too slow ino declare a pandemic

march. that the delays were the result of pressures from china. when as you may recall, ebola appeared in 2014 and 2015, there were long delays. there were long delays in declaring that a public health emergency of international concern. came underhan enormous pressure from a number of states that were affected by this, as well as neighboring states who feared this would grossly disrupt trade and travel. in that happens inevitably these circumstances. that the states in question push back pretty hard. series ofup having a emergency committee meetings organized and chaired by dr. that liberate, and decisions are postponed or delayed several times. that is one of the main issues.

it is diplomacy, they need to be a little less gushing in their praise for china or a little more distant in not embracing everything that is said on face value. what might be done to incorporate taiwan to some meaningful dissipation, even around the margins. the speed of decisions made, with respect to declaring a public health emergency of international concern, or a pandemic. the travel ban that president trump imposed on january 31 upon persons coming from china, not americans coming from china, at that time, dr. tedros issued a very general statement reaffirming policy under the international health regulations, which is a general, in-principle opposition to travel bans as a

measure that would have an effect in controlling outbreaks of this kind. he did not specifically target states.ted but apparently, even that general statement infuriated president trump. host: we want to invite our viewers to join in on this conversation. your question about the w.h.o. and the president's decision to cut funding for the group. if you are in the eastern part of the country, dial in at 202-748-8000, in the mountain, pacific area, dial in at 202-748-8001. the president,'s decision to cut the funding what in fact good that have? guest: he has not made the decision to cut funding to read right now the w.h.o. is in a two-year budget cycle. the united states currently is committed at $893 million. that comes down to about 21% of

the total. and the president has announced without much detail that there would be a review, a 60-90 day review of the mistakes made and what do we want to do with our funding? so there is a great deal of uncertainty about what the process will be how many programs of our support to w.h.o. are subject to this review and what kind of decision is going to be made. there is also calls in congress coming from republicans for resignations,s, resignation by dr. tedros. your question about what is the consequences -- if you remove we account for, a very, very high percentage for the support, for instance, in the global polio program, just under 30%. we provide a similar level in

the emergency response programs. in the emergency response, the w.h.o. is the lead in the democratic republic of congo in the ebola program that has been ongoing for two years there, and is close in a fragile way to being successful. if we pull out support, it has .impacts across the board what about the impact the pandemic itself is poised to move into low income countries in africa, poised to move into countries like india, with huge populations of poor people living in large, dense, urban settings. this pandemic is entering a new and much more equally dangerous period right now and w.h.o. is the lead there. are we going to cripple them in their capacity to deal with this? frankly, as a matter of security strategy, yes, we need

to give highest attention here at home to the crisis we face, both the crisis of the virus itself and the economic impacts, but we cannot ignore what is going on outside our borders. if we don't keep control over this pandemic and deal with the economic consequences in very fragile places and it does not fixed, it will continue to be a problem that reintroduces the virus into the united states and elsewhere. so there are many interests that we have in trying to preserve a strong w.h.o. in this particular historic moment of the pandemic. host: let's go to donna in henderson, nevada. your question about the world health organization. caller: i don't have a question, but i do have a comment. host: go ahead i think your guest has hit it on the nail. he has put everything that needs to be said. -- he has said everything that needs to be said. i do believe that it will

affect far more people than in the united states. all these countries around the world that need this type of support will definitely be affected. he really needs to think long and hard about what he does, who he wants to blame, and what actions he is going to take. host: let me just add to donna's comments from this text . she is asking, could the w.h.o. provide health care for our low income population in the united states like the refugees and the poor, just countries?her guest: the w.h.o. can certainly play a role in supporting our public health response here in the united states. by that, i mean, we have very close active, long-standing partnerships between the u.s. c.d.c. and our national

institutes of health with of the w.h.o.. the w.h.o. also has very strong relationships with the bill and within the gates foundation. in terms -- bill and melinda foundation. in terms of technical support come the w.h.o. can be very helpful to those governors and municipal leaders on the front lines that are struggling today. that effort has been made by the leadership of the w.h.o. it is there to serve all member states in the midst of this pandemic that is striking all states. host: we go to don in new jersey. good morning. missed them are sent. i have a question about the , japankorean, singapore testing routine that they came up with. they seemed to come up with it so quickly. was that approved by the w.h.o. as far as the protocols of their tests, and if so, why couldn't they share that

with the rest of the world? thank you. guest: the w.h.o., early in the outbreak in january it worked with the german government to develop a test that it is self-confident in. that it was safe and reliable and could be distributed on a mass scale. it went with that particular test. that test has been used by many governments around the world. the asianse of countries, south korea, ,singapore, taiwan, hong kong and of course, you have china. but of those other countries i just mentioned, they moved -- what is very distinct about those countries is they had good testing mechanisms in place rapidly. they moved very rapidly and they moved very aggressively in

order to test. they also had methods of separating those who were ill so that they were detained and quarantined. they had contact tracing mechanisms in order to identify those who might also require quarantine and might also be ill or infectious. isep in mind the coronavirus a particularly nefarious or insidious virus. it moves very, very fast. it is infectious. persons infected with this can infect others unknowingly while they are still asymptomatic. and that is very unusual. the lethality of it is not so high that it strikes a population and there is a mass virus burns the itself out, the fertility level can be high in some places. but if it is going at 2%, it is

wreaking damage and replicating and moving very fast. so those countries in asia moved very fast, moved to social distancing rapidly and aggressively across the board, and had testing methods to move in accompanying with those isolated, quarantining and contact tracing, got things under control. to do that?ey able you look at korea, korea had the experience of sars back in 2002, 2003. to changeed them their methods and their legislation and their capacity. then at they were hit with mers in 2015, and that was a shock, too. theirey had adapted national systems, created testing, created the legal capacity, they had the funding

in place and they had a unified approach at the national level. and they deserve great praise for what they have been able to achieve. host: done in new jersey, good morning. here.r: yes, i am still he did not answer the question. the question was, why didn't the south. share korean technology for the test. host: mr. morrison? w.h.o. adopted a test that was adopted by the government then disseminated it to partner countries worldwide, and it was adopted rapidly. the question is, the question you have put about why didn't the w.h.o. share the technology, it is quite the reverse, the w.h.o. was identifying good tests rapidly, identifying a test it was

confident in then getting the production of the kids and the reagents and getting them disseminated out to partner governments. the united states chosen not to buy into that program. the united states wanted to make its own test. that became very problematic in a very unusual way and slowed us down tragically. we lost lots of precious time because of our own complications within our system. i don't think it is fair to outgest that dr. tedros an there w.h.o. was not sharing technology that was going to work. it was happening. as i said, they enlisted the germans to prepare a test. the germans prepared one that was ready and able to be disseminated. they got the production going and they got them out. you were able to have mass testing undertaken rapidly. that is what we are seeing today in many of these countries. the testing levels are quite high. our testing levels in the united states are at best a

quarter to one third of what we require if we are going to be able to arrest this pandemic. host: ok. david in new mexico. caller: mr. morrison. listen. the w.h.o. should've had more responsibility with the funding of the taxpayers money, so they can detect these things. we handled it because they didn't want to handle it from and beginning to go ahead clear everything up and let us know what is going on in china or wherever else in the world. president trump is doing the right thing in handling it, because they didn't want to handle it from the beginning to let everybody know about these viruses. host: ok. could they have done more to detect this? guest: you mean could w.h.o. have done more to detect earlier the virus? host: yes. bryan: let me just --

guest: let me just explain a little bit about the history of what happened. the virus appeared in wuhan, a city of 11 million people. we believe it appeared sometime in mid november. it came to the attention of officials in that province earlyime in november, december timeframe. it was covered up by those officials for local party reasons. they didn't want to spread bad news up the line, they didn't want to describe some of their party planned congresses. period, a 6-7-week authorities in china were sitting on evidence of this outbreak and not reporting it, and that was a decision made on political grounds and on bureaucratic grounds that had huge consequences, because in that period, the virus is spreading. w.h.o., andd to the

by implication, the w.h.o. then disclosed what it knew to the rest of the world. it disclosed the existence of on december 31. disclosed thehen genetic sequencing data on january 10. that genetic sequencing data is very important to the world's experts' ability to develop tests and to begin looking at the development of field trials for vaccine candidates and trials for new forms of therapy. this is a brand-new virus, there is no vaccine or therapies,plus we don't know a lot about it. we still don't know exactly where it came from. that is a source of controversy also. it isn't know exactly how transmuted, what kind of immunity you require, we don't

know the true severity. what proportion of people who died, what proportion of people extremely ill -- become extremely ill. the chinese disclosed that data. what they held back some however, was epidemiological data on the disease, including specimens. and there was a debate about the human to human transmission in the first part of january, in which they seemed to suggest early in january that there was no congress if evidence of human to human transmission. the chinese reverse themselves on january 20 and said, yes, there is human to human transmission. disclosure.ortant, some of the debate in criticisms of china and the w.h.o. are saying that they were covering this up, versus trying to chase out what do we know and is a truly human to human transmission. there you get into a murky, he said she said debate. the fact of the matter is that

there was a one-week-10 days lapse while people were course,ng this, and of the chinese government at some level had incentives to deny there was human to human transmission. but if there is human to human transmission, you can't deny that for very long, because it will become clear. so those were the major lines going forward in that critical period, in terms of the delays that happened, that allowed this virus to spread wildly across parts of china and beyond. host: stephen morrison for our viewers. the front page of the "washington post" this morning americansheadline -- at the w.h.o. transmitted real-time information about the coronavirus to the trump administration. us -- iweets -- texts

don't think it is wrong to expect accountability from the w.h.o. if we taxpayers are footing the bill. money should not be given without complete accountability. in texas, good morning to you. what do you have to say about the world health organization? caller: exactly what he is congressthey were in at a meeting, and the same think this man said is exactly. it is not their fault. , all thesedoctors -- they were in congress and interviewing them all. they were interviewing them all. the lady said, do you have a cure for this? they said, no. they said, we have a cure but we want to create our own. it is exactly what he said. it is not their fault. host: ok, greg.

we move on to gus in brooklyn. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to know, do you thin see any difference between america's response and the w.h.o.'s response to china. host: say it again, gus? caller: the you see any difference between america's and w.h.o.'s response to china? host: any difference between america's and w.h.o.'s response to china, i believe is the question, mr. morrison. guest: the u.s. approach to china is a complicated one and it takes many different forms. we have had, most recently, we have had condemnation of china trump, arguing, that was just recounting, the chinese covered up, the

chinese covered up for 6-7 weeks, terribly consequential decision, they were slow to release epidemiological data and specimens, they were slow declare the human to human transmission, they kept external scientists at arms length and did not commit an international mission of the w.h.o. office to enter china until mid-february. so delayed delayed delayed, stonewalling, supporting information from the rest of the world. is quite aadd, there bit of skepticism within this administration and government that the numbers cited by the chinese in terms of the fatalities and the case counts are grossly underrepresented of reality. that they are grossly underreporting. china has a history of that. one channel. on the other side of the praisel are the repeated

that president trump has heaped points,esident xi at praising him for his response to the pandemic and for the leadership, and the like. keep in mind, when this first happened, this was shortly after the signing of the phase one trade agreement between the united states and china. this was something that president trump felt very positive about and wanted to use in his electoral campaign. so he has gotten hot and cold on condemning china, praising china. he spoke at the end of march on the phone with president xi in the last week of march and in subsequent days, a rhetorical confrontation. it diminished somewhat, they put a damper on that. weekend, there was a videoconference of the g7 membership. --esident trump used that

the u.s. is in the presidency this year of the g7 -- he used that videoconference with others from the member states to argue his case against the w.h.o. every other member of the g7 ofshed back hard in defense dr. tedros and of the w.h.o. the condemnation of w.h.o. and the threat to suspend -- the threat to cut funding has drawn widespread condemnation from quite a range of players -- bill and melinda gates, president carter, our g7 partner states, public health authorities, and many others. we have had, however, very little opposition to this brought up by prominent republicans.

what we have had our republican members of both the house and senate rallying behind the president much like doing the basement process, -- much like during the impeachment process, and calling for investigations and the like. make one point, which is that as we get into the next phase, as this investigation, as this review unfolds that president trump has called for, if there is any desire to ,reprogram funds, cancel reprogram or redirect funds, it requires consent from congress. so the president will have to enter a dialogue with congress. period, bothis republicans and democrats within congress will step to and bring forth a commonsense approach that says, maybe we can ask for reforms of the w.h.o., but let's not trash let's not dismantle

this institution in the midst of this epic pandemic where the w.h.o. plays a central role. host: stephen morrison, director for the center for strategic and international studies global health center, thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you so much. i hope this was useful for you and your audience. host: absolutely. coming up, we will talk with a congressman on the phone, getting an update on what the pandemic is like in his district for his constituents. it, viceyou missed president pence yesterday giving an update on the number of cases and those who have recovered here in the united states. [video clip] v.p pence: it was reported to us that at this moment, more than 746 thousand americans have tested positive for the coronavirus. unfortunately, more than 68,000 americans have fully recovered. but sadly, more than 41,000

americans have lost their lives to the coronavirus. and we always want to express our deepest sympathies to the families in their loss, as well as all the families who have loved ones who are struggling with this disease. today, we have seen encouraging news, again, about our progress as a nation. president trump reflected on those momentarily. the coronavirus white house learned thatoday our large metro areas continue to stabilize and see progress. the new york metro area including new jersey, new york, connecticut and rhode island, all appear to be passed their peak. the detroit metro area also appears to be passed its peak and is stable. than new orleans metro area is the most stable of all areas where we had a major metropolitan outbreak. the denver metro area is stable. we are dealing in colorado with

a meatpacking plant issue. of course, california and washington remain low and study. areas we continue to watch carefully on the task force include the chicago metro area, boston metro, and the philadelphia metropolitan area. the progress that we are making is a tribute to the american people. to state and local leaders in all these areas, in the partnership that our president has forged. but we just want to encourage every american as we see this progress, to continue to feed your state and thus to heed -- continue to heed your state and local authorities. nobody wants to open america more than president trump. but i want to assure you, we will continue to work with governors of every state with the pres.'s guidelines to

opening up american again and we will work in a way that we can consolidate the progress we have made and help move our state toward reopening the country. host: that was the vice president yesterday at the white house task force briefing. we will bring you that white house task force briefing at 5:00 p.m. eastern time today as well as briefing from governors across the country. in the "usa today" opinion page, their editorial board -- in the opinion pages, there is a piece from congressman adam schiff, congressman bennie thompson and congresswoman stephanie murphy, saying that they need to create a covid-19 commission now. like 9/11, "we need bipartisan review." that is in the pages of the "usa today" if you are interested. jutting us is congressman mark takano of california. you represent the 41st

district. tell us the demographics of your district. who lives there? guest: i have a large latino population, it is about 41s 40f the voters, currently 50% residents. i have an african-american population, and my asian-american population, maybe 5%, with the balance of the voters be white-anglo. veryend to be a exurban, suburban area. a lot of my constituents commute to work. with a huge blessed community college system, university of california calabasas, university, so there's a lot of

higher education in my district. host: and how many cases are there in your district? what is the pandemic like the r there? guest: i don't have that on the top of my head. i didn't review the latest county reports, i was mostly preparing on an interview on the v.a. i don't want to put out numbers and guess. host: you are the chair of the veteran affairs committee. ?hat are your concerns guest: i'm concerned about the level of ppe within the system. it is concerning about the level of preparedness and ppe

available in across the country. has had to provide backup in massachusetts and new jersey. it can be called into action by when requested by the states. when health systems are breaking down or being overwhelmed. not in a place where they can address simultaneous hotspots in many places. v.a.g worry is that the maintain its readiness to provide medical care to enrolled and eligible veterans. there have been concerning media stories about shortages and

rationing on an inconsistent basis across the system. to getd to struggle copies of guidance that dr. stone and the v.a. leadership ppe amongn the use of its workforce. i'm very concerned about a workforce -- if the v.a. workforce gets sick or if they catch the virus in sufficient to imperilat's going ourr ability to help veterans. focused on trying to

get information. the v.a. provides information in a rather elliptical manner. it tells me, we'll have a two supply,ply or 18-day but they won't give me actual numbers. .a.'s secretary said on friday that he had a good view of the supply line. aat tells me that you have grasp of the inventory. country, during a , don'tc, these numbers describe in terms of how many days of supply you have, just

tell me how much you have and what is the burn rate? these are things you should know. i think they should know. it took me three weeks just to get some of the guidance that they have issued. certainly not all. it should not take me three weeks to get simple documents about how you are using ppe. host: if you are a veteran and you think you have contracted covid-19, where should you seek medical help? guest: if you think you have contracted covid-19, the coronavirus, you should be in touch with your v.a. if you're enrolled. if you're not, you should seek health care in your community. the v.a. is set up to provide testing. testing results can be

turned around with two to seven days. they represent that they have enough testing supplies incl andg swabs and reagents testing platforms. they have tested up to 50,000 veterans. 10% of those tested have tested positive. the v.a. does have adequate icu's at this point. beds 40% of the icu's and are occupied. there is capacity at the v.a. to treat you. to continue to expand its capacity. it needs to provide support to

the community at large. host: we are out of time but perhaps we can check in with you in the coming weeks and get a status update. we thank you representative mark takano. thank you for your time. guest: thank you, stay safe. host: that does it for today's washington journal. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m.

>> c-span has round-the-clock coverage of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic and it is all available on demand. watch updates from governors and state officials. watch on-demand any time at coronavirus. leaves thet trump white house coronavirus task force briefing this afternoon. >> washington journal primetime. on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, our guests

are chicago mayor lori lightfoot on the city and on her personal response to the pandemic. of the about the spread virus and the latest data on how it is being controlled. kasicher governor's john of ohio as terry mcauliffe of virginia talked about the effect the coronavirus is having on the 2020 elections. mr. mcauliffe said he doubts that his party will be able to hold their convention this summer. >> thank you so much and thank you to the meridian international center for hosting this forum